Food Drink and Customer Culture Victoria - Mark Engels interview · Saturday September 10, 2011 by colin newell
I have known Mark Engels for years – and if you are a Victoria resident and fan of great food and drink, then there are few people better to have the ear and opinions of.
Victoria has lots of interesting food people. Many of them with a leading edge sense of what is going on here, some of the things that have been attempted in the past (that have failed) and some things on the horizon.
Which often brings me to one of Mark’s food and bakery ventures. I am a junkie for whats happening and what might be happening in the Victoria food groove. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy having a leg up on the food culture intelligence?
And considering that there are few people as driven as Engels, there are even fewer people that will have that innate 6th sense of the trends.
We spoke at Bubby’s Kitchen, Oscar and Cook St. on Saturday over his interpretation of the gourmet burger and the classic kosher hot dog – and the life and times of one of Victoria’s most beloved bakers and raconteurs, his staff, his customers and the trials and tribulations of running a tight culinary ship.
Mark’s dialog is a contiguous and literate stream, musings include a dissertation on the fragile nature of the food supply, satisfying a seemingly endless queue of regular devotees, customers old and new – all ages, the scaled up version of “Bubby’s Bakery” now in dining form at Oscar and Cook street, and so on.
Mark, Valerie and their business partner Joel are part of a, not so much revitalization, but a fresh stucco treatment of the historic Cook Street Village. The density near village center has gone up some – with the addition of condos near the core, and the relevance of more food services has never been more welcomed. Which is not to say that food choices were never stellar – The Cook street village has evolved with the times. And Mark and company have kept it ahead of the wave as it were.
Mark muses on the broad spectrum of customers in the village, “Look at our customer base down here… young parents, the elderly, urban professionals… somewhat different than Bubby’s at Meares and Cook…” Cook and Meares is almost something of a bakery hipster hang out with way more civil servants, writers, students, etc.
Mark pauses to direct a few staff and frequently interacts with everyone on the team. He continues, “Valerie and I are always delighted when we get that extra-special super passionate staffer – in fact, they all become part of the Bubby’s family in short order…”
As a food writer I am always looking for that special something-something that separates the average food places in Victoria from the gems; like Bubby Roses, Zambri’s, the great cafes, and dozens of others. And it comes down to passion and putting the “perfection” ahead of the profit.
Mark injects, “There are myriad ways of making more money on the process of running a place like this… raising the price of items without reason or justification, or taking the fun factor out of the equation… At Bubby’s the passion comes before the bottom line…”
I get the sense that when the fun ends that Mark will hang up his fedora.
In the meantime, Andrea and I share the Bison burger, perfectly prepared, presented on a bun made in house, with a in-house salsa and aioli – and an all beef “dog” and a bowl of awesome (and very hot) Minestrone soup.
Project in development - Women in Coffee - the audio series · Friday September 2, 2011 by colin newell
Just time stamping this for my own sanity and motivation.
After doing a fairly successful podcast at the WCCCS “For the Love of Coffee” – chatting with the industry movers, brewers and shakers (only men talking…) I realized that I need to approach this again – this time for the gals…
Because there are as many (or more) hard working ladies in the coffee business as there are guys – and I probably will not be surprised to find that the ladies have to work harder to cover as much ground(s) as the guys.
Some of the questions I will put forward: Does gender matter in coffee world? What, if any, pay equity issues exist? Promotional issues? Safety? Yes, I have to ask that as well – Do women feel safe working and traveling in the coffee industry.
I may, obviously, touch a few nerves…
but that is what I do.
So stay tuned as I flesh this out!
Credit where credit is due – I thought of this but Julia Barber of The Western Canada Coffee Collective is giving it legs by throwing her support behind this project. Hey, at this point, Julia Barber is, quite arguably, the hardest working person in the business!
WCCCS 2011 Audio Podcast roughcut · Sunday August 28, 2011 by colin newell
We interviewed a variety of great people at the 2011 WCCCS in Victoria at the beautiful Crystal Gardens Event Center. Have a listen to our near-30 minute chat with some of coffees movers, brewers and shakers! – if you cannot see the audio thingie below, click here for the mp3.
Talking Western Canadian Specialty Coffee in Victoria – 2011
The World of Mysterious Chinese Coffee Culture: Part 2 · Sunday August 28, 2011 by colin newell
Alright, I’ll go out on a limb here by assuming that the Chinese roasters were targeting a specific sociodemographic layer of our modern society by calling this brew DINKEY COFFEE. DINKY stands for Double Income, No Kids Yet. But if this rather technical brand name lacks convincing emotional-suggestive shelf appeal, so the tag line tries to make up for it: Swellish coffee takes you into the classic leisure romantic life. Of having plenty of dough, but no kids, I guess.
The eternal struggle of many Asian language speakers with the rolling guttural sound of a western ‘R’ is clearly documented in the bold fashion statement on this T-shirt, themed COFFEE BLEAK! However, it may also be worn to quietly protest the meek caffeinated offerings in your office canteen.
The highlight of this presentation are without any doubt these two gender specific coffee packs. Let’s first look at the MEN’s COFFEE. Sturdy packaged in a tin can are 8 × 12 gram coffee powder sticks. Whenever, wherever the need for such a, no doubt strong, substance may arise, it’s there to help. A golden tanned, muscled, shaved, oiled caucasian dude straight from the ‘80s grins at me encouragingly from behind a layer of coffee beans. SUPERIORE written on a banderole over his chest. I appreciate the hint of Italian-ness here.
“BO HELP THICKENING”, he says. Hmm, the dude maybe named BO, but he sounds more like Sylvester Stallone. “DELAY SPERMITIGENIC”. Sounds a bit scary, but coffee in its chemical contents is still full of wonders even to scientists. And maybe the Chinese one-child rule requires ‘spermitigenic’ qualities from all coffees now.
Then there’s this claim: SPONGIFORM ACTIVATED, THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION TO REMOVE ALL KINDS OF TIRED. THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL ERECTION. Wonder what causes the first powerful erection? Maybe they should reduce the ‘spongiform activation’ a tad? It’s BIO and 100% Natural, but…only now I saw the cup handle!!! This is some really strong stuff when it can arouse even a harmless coffee cup…
Yet for a proper date what does a girl want when you invite her for coffee upstairs? A cup of WOMAN’S COFFEE of course. A caucasian blonde stripped to a thong & garters shows that it’s not the usual Starbucks fare being served here.
The KEEP IT AWAY FROM CHILDREN warning verifies it’s effectiveness on adult females. The BIO sticker from the male version is not present here, so some chemical additives can be expected. But ladies are more difficult in the erogenous department, so we shouldn’t hold that against the makers.
IT IS AMERICAS MASTERWORK OF SENTIMENT SPICE WHICH CAN MEET YOUR EVERY NEED AND IMAGINATION AND GIVE YOU UNLIMITED SURPRISE AND UNEXPECTED SATISFACTION. Now if this doesn’t get the gal to hit the sheets with you, what else could?
Coffee—the American Masterwork of Sentiment Spice. Not for all the tea in China, fellas…
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Sneaking a peak at my coffee plant nursery 2011 · Monday August 1, 2011 by colin newell
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